R&C Short: His Empty Heart
by dustyismahomeboy
Summary: Raiden, a 28 year old Lombax, faces an extreme amount of anxiety when talking to others he doesn't know. Will his anxiety keep him from returning home?


So we had to do a short story in my creative writing class, and I used one of my newest characters and based the story around them. so basically, I wrote a fanfiction. Enjoyyyy

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I awoke to a loud knocking on my door. My bed wasn't far from the front door of my garage and they rung out loud and clear. No, it couldn't have been a knock. No one knows my coordinates. Who could be here? I shrugged it off and closed my eyes again only to be jolted up again by more banging and the voice of a female calling a questioned 'hello?'. I sat up in bed. Oh great. My anxiety began to act up and I began to get hot. Who was here and why? Were they trying to get in and steal something? No, most likely not. They seemed innocent. Or were they? I quickly changed into my normal clothes, a pair of denim shorts and a sleeveless shirt, and brushed out my fur a little as I headed to the door. They banged on it again making me jump a little. I quickly grabbed my wrench that was off to the side and gently unlocked the door. I swung it open and got into a defensive stance, holding out my bladed wrench.

"What do you want?" I asked, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. I could tell by the sudden threat of my wrench's blade pointed at her, I had startled the girl into backing up with her hands in front of herself. She was a Markazian who had dark brown hair in a ponytail and had very light purple skin.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to intrude, sir." she said timidly. "It's just that, my ship broke down not too far from here and I need help with it." Boy, did I feel like a jerk.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. No one usually visits so I got concerned. Yeah, I can fix up your ship." I said.

"Really? Thanks! It's so hot out here I don't think I can last another minute of walking!"

"Come inside. There's uh, water in the cooler over there. I'll go and tow your ship back with mine, no problem." I stuttered, grabbing my keys off my computer desk.

"Thank you." she said.

"I'll be right back." I walked over to my ship, trying my best to act professional and hoping deep down that my ship would start. I had been having problems with it lately. How embarrassing would it be seeing a big, muscular guy running his own repair shop and not even have his own ship in working order? Especially after stating it would be used to tow another.

I snuck a water bottle on as I hopped into the cockpit in case the engines overheated. I turned the key and flipped a few switches and thankfully, it started up smoothly. I sighed a small breath of relief as I closed the canopy and slowly left the garage so I wouldn't kick up too much dirt or dust. Once away enough, I closed the garage door so she would be safe and went on to look for her ship.

I soon spotted it not too far away and I backed up to the front of it. It was a bulkier ship, not very sleek, but that didn't normally matter in space. I opened the canopy and listened carefully for any bad sound before jumping out and hooking a chain from my ship to hers. Once secure, I quickly headed back, hoping she wouldn't mind that her ship was slowly being covered in dust and sand.

One quick glance out of my side mirror and I noticed three large beasts along with a group of smaller creatures following me.

"Great!" I exclaimed. I pressed a button to open the garage as I neared it. I had to get in as soon as I could. I opened the canopy , keeping the ship steady, and tossed a shield charger onto both my ship and the customers' in case they hit something. A light blue shield developed around both ships.

"Get out of the way!" I yelled as loud as I could and closed the canopy. The girl gasped and moved towards a wall. I sped up and measured out how long I was, especially towing the ship, and turned sideways to drift into the shop. I pressed the button to close the garage door and I was able to slip into the garage and break before the creatures could get in. The door sealed shut. I took a deep breath and opened the canopy. I deactivated the shield and towed her ship to an open hover platform so I could work.

"What happened? Are you okay?" the girl asked, coming up to me as I shut down my engines and jumped out.

"Mm, Cuddly Hound of Death and Barlowian Saur-Beast. Typical enemies here." I replied as small bangings were heard against the door. "This place is made fully of titanium so we're safe."

"Thank goodness." she said softly.

I said not a word more as I opened her ship's engine compartment and began to investigate. I found out the problem and began to work. I half expected ships to come in soon as the morning went on. A few more minutes went past and I heard a ding from my computer. That meant a ship was on it's way. I had five hover platforms so they would appear on them until they ran out. Then I would have to move them around. Not too long had passed and a ship about the size of mine materialized on a platform. I glanced at it as I working on the girl's ship. It had a few dents in the metal and it looked like the engines had a burn out. They were black with soot.

"That is so cool." I heard the girl say in awe. I took a break from her engine and got up to check my computer. All the customer wanted down was the engines fixed. Their insurance would cover any cost. I accepted it and went back over to the girl's ship.

"If you have other things to work on, you can." the girl said. "I'm not in a hurry."

"No, no, it's fine. I always get every ship done in about a day." I replied. I heard her come up to me as I worked.

"I don't mean to be rude but, you're a Lombax, right? I've never seen one in person before." she asked.

"Yeah, I am." I said simply. "I left home for a simpler life. Though, I have been meaning to go back home. I just have so much anxiety I don't think I could face everyone for how long I've been gone." I don't know why I was telling her this but I guess I just needed to rant a little.

"I'm sorry about that." she said. "I'm a Markazian. I haven't been able to get out much… can't you call them?"

"I've tried. But they won't answer. I only get the voicemail. They must hate me because I left. It's been 10 years."

"You should go back home. I'm sure if you did, you could work it out."

"No, no. I can't show my face back there again. I'd be a laughing stock. I couldn't."

"Come on! I could come with you to help. My name's Rachel, by the way."

"Raiden. But what if I'm turned down? What if everyone knows I left for this long and they're angry at me?"

"They won't be angry at you, I promise. You're a sweet guy. You can do it." She gave me a warm smile. That was the first time I was complimented in a very long time and it kinda made me feel happy. I still didn't want to go.

"I'll think about it. I do sorta miss 'em."

"Don't think about it, do it!" she exclaimed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up from where I knelt. "I bet they're waiting for you." She looked at me.

I looked back at her. I was nervous, and a little scared, but Rachel made it seem so easy. By the way she talked and her enthusiasm. I almost felt ready. No, I _was_ ready. Today was the day.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, you got me. But I need to get back soon to the shop then."

She smiled. "Don't worry, they won't hate you. They probably miss you."

I gave a slight nod as I set down my tool on her ship's wing and went to my own ship. I helped her get on and quickly went to my computer. I limited the ship intake to three on the teleporter so ships that came in wouldn't hit each other on the platforms. I then grabbed my wrench as I hopped into my ship and started the engines.  
I hadn't heard any noise outside so I had to make it out quickly in case the Saur-beasts and hounds of Death hid nearby. I opened the garage door just enough so I could get through and sealed it again. No enemy in sight. I set the coordinates to Fastoon in my ship and took off.

It was a very silent ride. I flew for a long time. I was in the Bogon galaxy and Fastoon was in the Polaris galaxy. Upon arriving, it looked the same as Barlow almost, a desert planet. But when I got closer to the city, my heart sank. The city was deserted. Buildings looked to be rotting away and some had collapsed. No one was in sight.

"Oh, my…" I heard Rachel whisper. I couldn't even think. I could only stare at my once home. I flew to my house and landed. The place was run down and beat up. I entered inside. Everything looked the same except for a few items being stolen. I found the house phone, all dusty, and picked up the receiver. The phone had nine messages on it. _My_ messages. My ears drooped as I replaced the receiver back, thinking of what they all contained. ' _Just wanted you to know I'm living well_.' and ' _I started up my own business._ '. But most importantly, those that begged my parents to answer. To pick up the phone at least once. Then the random messages of me explaining what had happened during certain days.

I looked back at Rachel and her eyes met mine. I tried not to cry at all my now meaningless message recordings as I walked past her and out of the house. My tail dragged on the floor. I gained my train of thought back once looking at my ship.

"We need to find my friend. Ask him a few questions." I managed to choke out. We both then took off back to the Bogon galaxy to planet Snivelak. Another silent but saddening trip.

Upon arriving at Snivelak, I heard Rachel move uncomfortably seeing all the lava around the place. I told her to bring a bottle of water in case. I landed outside a small bar and locked up my ship after leaving. I headed inside and the first thing I noticed was my friend, Lucas the Thug, bhind the counter making a few rounds to his other pals. He noticed the serious but empty look on my face and he hurried to me.

"What's wrong, pal?" he asked? Thugs had large bodies, a long tail, claws, and very sharp teeth. Lucas had all of that. He was a pale purple in color.

"Tell me what you know on what happened on Fastoon." I said. People inside heard me and instantly shushed. Lucas didn't say a word and motioned me to follow. I went with him into the back part of the bar with Rachel where it was quiet.

"I can show you. I kept this news recording for when you found out. I didn't wanna tell ya though. I didn't want ya to be anymore lonelier." He put an old looking disk into a machine. The T.V. in front turned on and showed a news broadcast from Fastoon. Lombaxes of all colors and sizes ran about as creatures called Cragmites ran after them. An army of Lombaxes used weapons on the Cragmites and it looked to be an all out war. I drowned out the voice of the reporter when I heard my name. A female Lombax of my colors looked around wildly. A male of the same was with her.

"I hope he's okay!" I heard the female yell out before the camera switched to another scene. I heard Lucas sigh.

"The Lombaxes went into war with the Cragmites after their tech was introduced to 'em. Most of 'em are alive and are in another dimension. The Keeper of the Dimensionator brought them there. I believe your parents are still alive." Lucas explained as he shut off the T.V.

I didn't know what to say or think or do. I just stared at the blank screen.

"How do I find them?" I asked.

"You can't. The Dimensionator was destroyed. But the Lombaxes are all in the Lombax dimension. They're safe as far as we know."

"I'll find them. I could've helped if I hadn't left. This is my fault." I muttered.

"This isn't your fault. You didn't know." Rachel said. She tried to reassure me, which I need tons of.

"Thanks, bud." I said softly to Lucas. He nodded and handed me the disk. I took it.

"Don't take it too hard, pal." he said as I left the bar with Rachel.

"Thank you for doing this." I told Rachel as I headed home to Barlow. "If it weren't for you, I would've thought they were still angry at me. But now I know they may be alive, and that they still love me. Thank you."

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Sorry if some of the R&C information is incorrect. I just fully got into this like a few months ago, and I did my best researching on the Wiki and by watching playthroughs haha


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